My Invisible Illness and Me: A Young Persons Perspective – Draft Submission

29 Jan My Invisible Illness and Me: A Young Persons Perspective – Draft Submission

Posted at 22:04h in Journalism Project, Level 6 by Cresswell

Outline:

My project looks deeper into young people that suffer from physical and mental invisible illnesses. As well as the struggles that they deal with in their everyday life, one of the biggest issues that they face is being misunderstood in society, especially in health care and education. My first interviewee, Jessica Howard, explains how her illness has affected her education, friendships and her ongoing battle with the GPs. Secondly, I have interviewed Joshua Baker, who expands more on the lack of knowledge that the healthcare has on invisible illnesses and the struggles he has had with GPs. Third, Una Lynch is a qualified nurse that admits that during her nurse training, invisible illnesses was a subject that wasn’t mentioned or taught. She then became ill herself and it was only then that she realised how difficult life is with a lack of knowledge for young people. Now she works alongside doctors to help them have a better understanding. Fourth, I speak to Sophie Ainsworth who had a negative experience and a lack of support from her school, regarding her illness. Sophie is now the founder of the charity, Raiise, and aims to help educate teachers on how to talk and support pupils who live with life long conditions. Finally, I raise the point that as well as physical illnesses, young people can also be invisible illnesses mentally. Nikki Mattocks talks to me about her diagnosis with Recurring Depressive Disorder and how it has affected her life.

My Invisible Illness and Me: A Young Persons Perspective

When someone says that they have an illness, the mind more often than not jumps to the conclusion that it is something common. Illnesses that they have heard of before, where you can clearly see the physical strain that they are going through. But imagine if that illness was one that people can’t see. They may look fine on the outside – but the problems that they are experiencing with their body – stops that individual from completing regular day-to-day tasks.

Invisible illnesses can be physically and mentally challenging, and it’s not just old people that deal with this kind of stress on their bodies, but young people as well. According to the NHS, in the UK, 14.3% of young people aged 18-25  live with chronic pain, whilst one in 10 experience mental health issues. Life for a young person, as many people know, is never easy. Growing up, big decisions have to made that determines their future. Where do you want to go? Who do you want to be? What do you want to do? But, imagine living with an invisible illness on top of the pressure that comes with those decisions.

Jessica Howard is a twenty-year-old film student from London. She enjoys writing music, photography and creating videos. To the naked eye, Jess appears to be just another young individual, living her normal day-to-day life. But behind closed doors, her ‘normal’ is rather different.

When she was just fourteen-years-old, Jessica was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) – a long term condition that involves extreme tiredness and only affects 2% of young people in the UK. Life became harder for Jessica and, unfortunately, things didn’t stop there. In April 2018, she was diagnosed with a second invisible illness, Fibromyalgia – a condition that causes pain all over the body.

So, what is life really like for Jessica?

The lack of knowledge from the GPs and Hospitals appears to be an occurring issue for young people who suffer from invisible illnesses. According to The Telegraph, one in 10 patients is misdiagnosed, with doctors mistaking up to 15% of the cases, due to quick judgment.

At 21-years-old, Joshua Baker was enjoying student life at Southampton University, until he noticed that his left leg looked unusually larger than the right. Just like Jessica, Josh found himself back and forth in the GPs office, before receiving a diagnosis of Lymphoedema – a chronic swelling condition that develops due to built up fluid in the body’s tissues. Since adapting to his illness, one thing that has shocked Josh the most is our health services lack of knowledge and understanding towards chronic conditions:

Whilst the knowledge and treatment on offer for patients is extremely limited, it seems that even some professionals working in the NHS have been affected. Una Lynch, 25, is a qualified nurse, who was unfamiliar with invisible illnesses until she became ill herself. At 23, she was told that she had Costochondritis – an inflammation in the chest, that causes pain and fatigue. Una claims that when training to be a nurse, she was hardly informed on chronic illnesses, which she now realises must change. Alongside nursing, Una has begun to work with GPs, helping them understand such illnesses, from a professional and personal perspective.

Edited Interview to be turned into an audiogram:

The lack of knowledge and understanding of invisible illnesses in young people is an ongoing problem. However, it appears that it’s not just an issue within our health care. Sophie Ainsworth, the founder of the Raiise charity, was 14 when she was diagnosed with Lupus. Despite the fact that she was constantly in hospital receiving intense treatment, Sophie couldn’t believe the lack of understanding that her school and teachers had for her condition. After receiving letters regarding her low attendance, she decided to set up her charity, which essentially gives teachers information on how to treat students that face similar situations.

Interview to be turned into an audiogram:

Whilst invisible illnesses can be physically demanding, for Nikki Mattocks it was a mental challenge. Nikki was 14 when she was diagnosed with Recurring Depressive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Borderline Personality Disorder. During her therapy, Nikki occasionally attended hospital school, where she met others her age who were also battling mental illness. Unfortunately, Nikki’s illness made it difficult for her to socialise with the other students. But it helped her realise that knowing people she could relate to left a positive impact on her. A few years later, she decided to start a peer support group for young people in her local area.

Sources:

Cresswell
leannecresswell95@gmail.com